Beginning with the onset of the 1950s she began working on fanzines. Her first fanzine was Starlanes, with the subtitle "The International of Science Fiction poetry", published with Orma McCormick. The first issue appeared in 1951 and the publication ran for a decade, ending in 1961. Starlanes was dedicated to science fiction and weird fantasy poetry. Writers who appeared in the fanzine included Joseph Payne Brennan, Philip Jose Farmer, Lilith Lorraine, Edith Otgutsch, and many others.

At the same time Nan Gerding was also releasing other zines. In 1954 she edited the first issue of Spectator, which was then turned over to other editors. Later in the decade, two issues of Nangel appeared; the first in February 1958 and the second in May 1959. This zine is in the Fanzine Collection at Temple University Libraries.

The Chigger Patch of Fandom is Nan Gerding's other best known fanzine, edited with Bob Farnham and Ed Cox. It was also published in the 1950s and included contributions from Robert Bloch, Orma McCormick and many others.

Nan Gerding continued contributing to fanzines into the 1960s.

The book The Green Odyssey by Philip Jose Farmer is dedicated to Nan Gerding.